1,162 cases received seven months after the Distortion of Law offense took effect...14,825 people targeted for investigation

[Financial News] The number of cases received by police in the seven months since the Distortion of Law offense took effect has exceeded 1,100. Around 14,000 people were named as targets of complaints or accusations.
According to the National Office of Investigation at the Korean National Police Agency on the 29th, as of the 12th, a total of 1,162 cases had been received under the Distortion of Law offense, involving 14,825 people.
Of these, 885 cases involving 13,266 people were handled through decisions not to refer them for prosecution and other dispositions, while 34 cases involving 70 people were transferred to other agencies. The remaining 243 cases involving 1,489 people are currently under investigation. The overall case-processing rate is 79.1%.
By the status of those targeted for investigation, police accounted for the largest number, at 4,355, followed by 1,066 prosecutors and 877 judges. The police count includes the Korea Coast Guard, while the prosecutors include prosecutors from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and special prosecutors.
Cases involving 3,777 police officers, 952 prosecutors and 729 judges had been closed. Of 26 prosecution investigators, 23 had completed processing, as had 158 of 160 special judicial police officers.
Other individuals who do not hold a status covered by the Distortion of Law offense, which applies to judges, prosecutors and investigators, numbered 8,341, accounting for 56.3% of the total. Cases involving 7,698 of them had been closed.
Since the Distortion of Law offense took effect, prominent legal figures, including Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, Supreme Court Justice Park Young-jae, Presiding Judge Ji Gui-yeon and former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, have also been named in accusations. Chief Justice Cho and Justice Park were accused in connection with proceedings in President Lee Jae Myung’s Public Official Election Act case after it was reversed and remanded, while Presiding Judge Ji was accused in connection with the decision to cancel former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention. Oh Dong-woon, chief of the CIO, and officials from the three special prosecutor teams were also among those accused.
However, police reportedly dismissed the accusation against Chief Justice Cho, citing the fact that the ruling at issue had been made before the law took effect.
The Distortion of Law offense, which took effect on March 12, provides for the punishment of judges, prosecutors and investigators involved in criminal investigations or trials who intentionally distort the law to give another person an undue benefit or infringe on that person’s rights and interests. The statutory penalties are up to 10 years in prison and suspension of qualifications for up to 10 years.
Since the law took effect, a series of cases in which people have filed complaints or accusations against the judges or investigators handling their cases in protest of investigation or trial outcomes has raised concerns about indiscriminate complaints and accusations. Police have previously said they would promptly close unfounded or indiscriminate cases, including by dismissing them under the relevant rules.

[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter